I didn't plan on delaying this update so long, but classes and other events forced me to. But now, at last, you guys can have the next chapter! Unfortunately, this is the last chapter I've finished for the moment. So… I don't know when you're going to get the one after it, beyond that you will get it eventually. In the meantime, enjoy!

I do not own Naruto.

Bloodline

--Chapter Six: A Very Nice Prince--

Ino knocked on a door several feet down the hall from Sakura's. "Hinata? It's Ino. I've brought someone to see you!" She opened the door without waiting for an answer, which Sakura guessed was a habit of hers. Ino pulled Sakura in behind her.

This room was as "sapphire" as Sakura's was "ruby"; she wondered vaguely if the theme of Ino's room was "amethyst."

The gauzy curtains around the bed in the center of the room were pulled back, and the girl sitting on it looked up from the book she'd been reading. Her long, dark blue hair, which had made a curtain around her face, shifted, revealing pale, small features and extremely light eyes. Though she and Sakura had been in the same classes for years, this was the first time they'd seen each other outside of school walls and uniforms. Sakura personally thought the difference- which included a knee-length, long-sleeved white dress- did Hinata quite a bit of good.

"Hi, Hinata," Sakura said with a smile. "It's… good to see you." That wasn't a lie, at least. It was nice to see someone familiar, even if that someone was now a vampire (according to Kakashi, anyway).

Hinata smiled back shyly. "It's nice to see you too, Sakura."

Ino squealed. "Oh, I knew you'd be even prettier when you smiled, Hinata! Sakura, I'm so glad Sasuke brought you here. Who knows how long Hinata would have been moping in her room?"

Hinata blushed. "I haven't been moping, Ino. I just didn't feel like going anywhere."

Ino grinned. "It amounts to the same thing, really."

There was a knock on the doorframe (since no one had bothered to shut the door) and the three girls turned to see a tall, dark-haired woman leaning against it. Two boys stood in the hallway behind her, one wearing a fur-trimmed blue hoodie and the other wearing a jacket with a collar that went up to his nose and sunglasses. The one in the hoodie had long red triangles on his cheeks and a somewhat feral (but not frightening) grin. "So that's the chick Uchiha brought home. Can't say I fault his taste."

The other boy, who was a few inches taller, smacked him. "Down, boy."

"Hey, Shino, that hurt!" the shorter one complained. Sakura could only assume, since Ino had mentioned their names, that he was Kiba, the werewolf.

"Deal with it," Shino replied, his barely-visible expression appearing not to change.

The woman just shook her head at the boys, obviously used to such antics. "Hinata, are you ready to go?"

The blue-haired girl got off her bed. "Yes, Kurenai." She turned to Sakura. "It really is good to see you again, even if these aren't the best of circumstances."

Sakura smiled. "You too."

Hinata left with Kurenai and the boys. Ino sighed. "I guess this means Asuma and Chouji will be coming for me soon."

"Why do you go out in groups, anyway?"

"Because of the Hyuugas, mostly. Though there are a few other things that would take on a lone vampire. It's just safer to not be alone."

"That makes sense. I should probably find Sasuke and ask about the dress, if you're leaving."

"He's usually in the library at this time of night. It's down the hall and to the right; it's the only room without an actual door. If Sasuke isn't in there, he will be eventually. There are plenty of books in there to pass the time, if you like that sort of thing." Ino lowered her voice to a more conspiratorial tone. "If you don't like the literary selection the library offers, I've got a box of fashion magazines under my bed. They're up-to-date, for the most part. My room's the one right across from yours. I'll see you when I get back, okay?"

Sakura laughed. "All right. See you in a few hours."

The girls parted ways.

--

Sasuke was in the library, and he was having trouble concentrating on "The Pit and the Pendulum." Usually he read Poe with ease, but tonight something just wasn't working.

Sakura was glad to find Sasuke in the library, just as Ino had said he would be. It was easier to ask him now than to wait until later. He was bent over a book, though, and she felt bad about disturbing him. It would only take a minute.

"Sasuke?" Sakura said tentatively, standing a few feet behind him.

He turned toward the direction of Sakura's voice, about to tell the girl to go back to her room and leave him alone, and then Sasuke froze. He was certain that whoever had given Sakura the dress she now wore (Kakashi, most likely) had failed to mention to the human girl that it had previously belonged to Mikoto Uchiha, Sasuke's mother. The deep red gown had a different effect when put with Sakura's hair and complexion than it had on dark-haired Mikoto, but Sasuke shocked himself by thinking it was no less beautiful. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the thought. "What?" he asked, perhaps a little more sharply than he meant to.

Sakura flinched. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," he told her. He hated when people did that.

She was surprised. "What?"

Sasuke sighed mentally. "Where did you get that dress?"

Finally, something Sakura understood despite not knowing Sasuke well. "Kakashi brought several things for me to wear," she explained, "since Ino's clothes wouldn't fit me and none of Hinata's things would look right." According to Ino, anyway, but Sasuke didn't need to know that. "This one fit the best, but he said that it was your mother's. I wanted to make sure it was okay with you if I wore it."

Sasuke wasn't really listening. His hand brushed her cheek before either of them even realized he'd moved closer, and she gasped a little. His other hand pulled her to him, and then he kissed her.

Sakura had long imagined her ideal first kiss, knowing perfectly well that reality rarely measured up to fantasy. But this… this was even better that what she'd imagined. She leaned into the kiss eagerly.

Sasuke could feel more urges rising. He wanted to take her blood, he wanted to never stop kissing her, he wanted…

He pushed Sakura away. "You should leave."

Sakura blinked, trying to comprehend what he'd just said and done while her brain was still fuzzy from the kiss. "What?"

"I said leave!" he hissed.

That was clear, and it was all Sakura needed. "Fine. I won't wear your mother's dress. I'm sorry for disturbing you." She left the library.

Sasuke went back to his chair and sank into it, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. "Shit," he murmured. Sakura had no idea of how close she'd come to serving as his dinner.

And why the hell had he kissed her in the first place?

--

"That lazy-ass is the most annoying and infuriating guy on the planet!" Temari groused as she sat down on her bed. The siblings had agreed that her room made the best place to meet after the hunts and discuss things.

Kankuro, sitting once again in the chair in the corner, groaned. "God help us, you like him."

Temari glared at her younger brother. "I do not."

"Ugh, it's going to be revolting when you two get married and have kids. They'll probably call me 'Uncle Kankuro' and ask me to tell them fairy tales all the time."

"Kankuro, if you don't shut up-"

"Both of you shut up," Gaara said. He was leaning against the closet door instead of the main one. "If you keep yelling, someone will hear you."

Kankuro snorted. "They're all fast asleep; no one's going to hear anything. Or maybe you're just mad because you haven't gotten your chance to complain about the green-suited maniac? 'Cause I've got plenty of things to say about the teacher; the guy's a psycho."

Temari rolled her eyes. "Poor baby."

Gaara silenced Kankuro's retort with a glare. "Enough. To answer your question, Kankuro, Lee is… different. Most people would stop talking when the person they're trying to converse with doesn't respond. He keeps trying."

Kankuro and Temari both looked at their younger brother for a moment, since neither of them could remember the last time Gaara actually showed any interest in someone outside their family. Then Kankuro let loose another dramatic groan. "God help us, you like him."

Temari tried to repress her snickering, but Kankuro was smirking and soon the two of them were laughing helplessly.

Gaara just rolled his eyes, but his posture stiffened when someone knocked on the door. Temari and Kankuro both regained their composure instantly, and Temari got up to answer it.

Lee was standing in the hallway, and Temari managed to give him an imperious look instead of bursting out laughing. "What do you want, bushy-brows?"

Lee smiled. "I see you have picked up one of Naruto's nicknames for me. I simply heard noise and wondered if everything was okay."

Kankuro peered over his sister's shoulder. "Everything's great, actually."

Temari didn't look at her brother, but gave Lee a bright smile. "Thanks for stopping by. Good night!" she almost sang before shutting the door in Lee's face.

She and Kankuro waited until they heard Lee's footsteps return to his room before they started laughing again.

"Jeez, Gaara," Kankuro breathed between chuckles, "I thought Temari had bad taste."

The eldest of the Sabaku siblings paused in her hysteria long enough to hit him.

"If you two are finished," Gaara said slightly louder than he usually spoke. That sobered the other two quickly, since Gaara raised his voice about as often as he showed interest in someone other than his brother and sister. "I'm going to assume nothing new has been learned about the Uchiha?"

"Other than that he's got a werewolf and a few other vampires, including the Hyuuga daughter, living with him?" Temari asked.

Kankuro whistled. "What, does the guy have a harem of female vamps? Is the werewolf just there to add variety?"

"Honestly, Kankuro, that's disgusting."

"Maybe to you."

"Besides," Temari added, "the werewolf is male. Shikamaru- the lazy-ass, I mean- knows more than he should. He answered any question I asked, but some of the stuff a Hyuuga associate of his age wouldn't know."

"Keep an eye on him, then," Gaara advised. "And try to find out more about Sasuke Uchiha. The fact that the Hyuugas want him so badly must mean something."

--End Chapter Six--

I still adore the Sand Sibs (starting to like my Ino quite a bit as well), and this time I absolutely failed at keeping them out of the chapter. And in case you were wondering, I don't plan to push a GaaLee relationship. Friendship, yes. More than that, probably not. As to the suddenness of the SasuSaku kiss… most of you probably don't mind, right? And I have method to my madness, for those of you that do. Thanks for reading, and please review! (Even if you want to yell at me for any reason. )